Elastic-fluid turbine.



PATENTED SEPT'. 1, 1908.

vW. KIESBB. i ELAST'IG FLUID TURBINEI APPLIOAVTIOR FILED JAI. 31, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

WALTER KIESER, OF BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY', 1A

CORPRATION OF NEW YORK.

nLAs'rIc-FLUID TURBINE;

" Specification of .Letters Patent.

Patentes sept. 1, ieee'.V

i Application Bled January 31, 1907. Serial No. 8555005.

To all whom 'if may concern:

Be vit known that I, WALTER' KIESER, a

.citizen of Switzerland, residing' at Berlin,

I bines, particularly of large output, as hereto- `place within the turbine.

fore constructed, is often limited byV reason of the resultant high pressure in the early' stages. For this reason it is necessary to 1riermit the steam or other elastic fluid in the rst stage. to expand nx'fnoi'nial load to the lowest possible pressure.v In some cases the drop in pressure in the first stage is equal 4to about one half the initial ressure. Where the bucket wheel of the initial stage is fullyl su plied with fluid anyinci'ease in load is tagen care of by increasing the ressure of the motive Huid, and in a partiall) supplied wheel by opening additional supp y nozzles. Inboth cases an incre-ase il-i pressure takes In partially suplied turbines this increase in pressure can Ee avoided by opening additional nozzles to ythe second and succeeding stages, thereby the permitting a greater amount of fluid to A regulating mechanism of this character involves however` for multi-stage turbines, great mechanical complications. In certain other eases the number of nozzles or other fluid-discharging devices in flow remain thesame and the overload ishandled by introducing high pressure motive Huid into one or more succeeding stages after the first, resulting in a pressure curve somewhat higher at an intermdiate ortion than the normal. In

this instance t e fluid rvintroduced to the in' termediate sfage or stages has to be throttled to reduce the pressureftliereby losing a portion of the energy therein.

The present invention arrangements above noted and to improve creasmg their efficiency, while maintaining the nozzles in flow beyond the first stage or pass.

has for its objects to overcome the objectionable feature of the ressure of the initial stage within certain pre stemmed limits and fullyutilizing the unduly complicating the governing mechan# In the accompanying drawings, showing one of the embodiments of -my invention, Figure 1 is a curve illustrating the drop'in the turbine; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a multi-stage turbine-arrangedin plan of' a inotive lluid after it has'given upa certain amount of'its energy in lperforming useful work in the initial whee is conducted or pressure Y'60 accordance with my improvement; Seis a partial plan view 'of the turbine; 4 is an end View of the same and Figs. 5 and 6 are shunted wholly or partially around one, two, y

three or more stages depending upon the amount of the overload. Shunted is conveyed by a conduit, as for example 20(Fig. 3) containing a suitable contro ling vvalve 21. Upon increasing the quantity of motive fluid entering the turbine ulider these conditions, the pressure in all of the stages after the first will rise. The quantity of fluid flowing through the 4turbine can be increased until the stave into which the ad- "ditional'fluid is directed has almost the same If, for-example,

pressure as the first stage. the additional fluid .is directed from the first to the fifth stage, (Fig. 2), the pressure curve a, b, d, is obtained in the case of maximum load. In this case the drop .in pressure between b and d is sufficient only to take care of the losses due to friction, etc. The pressure in the fifth stage will be increased over that due to normal operation by a amount represented b d, g. Under this condition the second, third, fourth and fifth stages per- The fluid thus form no work and serve only to transmit a portion of the working fluidfrom the first to.

The apparatus may also be the fifth stage.` arranged' for different degrees of overload and' a plurality of nozzle groups YsuppliedfbyI ios ' 55 it may be replaced by conduits 22, 23, are' arranged in the rst stage so as to utilize the ent1re pressure drop.

vIn this case the motive fluid, depending upon the number of grou s in flow, is directed from the first to the thirv stage vby the conduit 24, from the first to the fourth b the conduit 25, and from the first to the fifth by the conduit 20. The pressure curves resulting from this are represented by a, b, f, c; a, b, e, c; and a.,-

11,11, c (Fi 1).

Each o the valves 21 26 and 27 in the Ashunt conduits 20', 24 and 25 may .with advantage' befoperatively connected with'the corresponding valve admitting fluid to the first stage thereby eliminating danger of the operator increasing the inflow to the first stage without maklng suitableprovision for its escape. The central group of nozzles 28 leading to the vfirst stage'are shown in section, Fig. 2, and a valve 29 is provided to control their action. The nozzles in the initial stage are arranged to convert -a greater percentage of the pressure into velocity than are the subsequent stage nozzles 28 '1. vThe cross-sectional area of the nozzles increases from the initial toward the exhaust to compensate for the increase volume of the motive fluid at the decreased pressure. Thewadmission` valves may be operatedby hand or they may be operated by a suitable source of relay power under, the. action of a governor in a manner Well understood. It; ma v'be assumedl that the valve 23 controls t le motive'fluid-'for the normal load` and the valves 22 and 29 that for the overloads, or that two of the valves control `the-normal load fluid and one the overload.v For load conditions between the normal and degrees of overload represented vby the full ,opening of the conduits 20, 24 or 25 throttling of the fluid is resorted to.

In Figs. 5 and 6 a throttlin0r valve 30 is in terposed in thecomlnon su ply conduit leading to the normal-load va ve 3-1 #and to the overload valve 32 by-means of which'the amount 'of steam can be regulated within the limits between normal load and maximum load bythrottling. In these figures only one shunt conduit 33 is provided between the first stage and one of the subsequent stages containing an automatic valve 34 which respondsto pressui'e and opens upon a prede.

termined mcrease {.in pressure and closes when the pressure falls; In thev present illustration an adjustable weight 35 is` emplo ed to obtain the'properopenlng and closing, ut

a spring or other equivalent means, as is wellunderstood.

The turbines shown are intended primarily for marine turbines although the invention 1s` not necessarily limited thereto. The shaft 36 carrying the revolving element of the turbine is mounted 1n suitable alinedbearin 37 and is provided with collars 38 to take the end thrust, the caslnghfor the vcollar being omitted.V In Fig. 2 t

e vexhaust from the diaphragms. and t turbine is discharged by an upwardly eX- tending conduit 39, and 1n Figs. 5 and 6 by a downwardly extending conduit.

In the early stages the bucket wheel's 40 are partially supplied with steam or other motive fluid, two rows of wheel buckets be# ing shown in each stage with intermediate buckets 41 between extending the proper distancearound lthe circumference for fractionally abstracting the energy. 'These stages are separated one fron'rthe other by walls,

diaphragms or partitions` 42. In the lowl pressure end of themachine the wheel buckets. are o1' may be mounted on a drum 43 with suitable stationary intermediate buckets between. In this part of th'c turbine the intermediates extend entirely around the circumference and all of the buckets are active.` In other words, the early stages are partial flow while the later stages, as represented by the rows of wheel and intermediate buckets, are

total flow. i Since the wheels in the lower stages arevfully sup lied with Ifluid I omit the ilus decrease4 the overall dimensions.

I have shown one conduit for conveying fluid from the high-pressure stage to a "given stage of lower pressure,l but it is tobe understood that I-may7 provide two or more conduits arranged in multiple. .The conduits may be removable as shown, or they maybe Yformed Ain thewheel'casingat the time it isv `cast lor subsequently.

I From the (escription it will be apparent that when the machine is operatingat ya given load orlatless than said load all of the stages will be in service, andthat as the load is increased beyond the said given load the number of stages will be'decreased until un der conditions of lmaximum load the minimum number of stages will be inservice. It

will also be apparent that the path of the motive fluid flowing through the shunt conduit'is in multiple Withthat flowing through the nozzles or other fluid discharging devices of the shunted stage or stages. In other words the motive fluid flows through the turbine inseries for certain loads and in multiple through' a part'more orless great of the' turbine and a passage or'conduit for greater loads. 4 .y

The revolving element of-'the turbine is `shown mounted on the same shaft and'having-a single casing, but if desired the shaft and casing may be divided and arranged to drive the same or difl'erent loads. The invention is shown in .connection with a horizontal shaft machine, but it is alsol applicable to machines having upright shafts.

In accordance with the provisions' of the patent statutes, I have describedthe principle ofoperationl of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to re resent the best embodiment thereof; but

I esire-to. have it understood that the appa# exhaust,in combination with a conduit which,

receives motive iluid after it performs work in the initial stage and shunts itl past `one orV more stages and discharges -into aA low pressure stage to prevent excessive pressure in the initial sta e and a means for governing the passage o fluid in thecondui 3. An elastic-,fluid turbine comprising a plurality of stages and having an inlet and an exhaust, in combination with a plurality of conduits for shunting one or more high-pressure stages.l l

4. An elastic-fluid turbine comprisin a plurality of stages and having an inlet an an exhaust,r in'combination with aconduit for shunting one or more of lthe early stages to prevent excessive pressure, and a valve for controllinI the passage of motive fluid `throu h the conduit 5.4 n.ela'sticfiuid turbine comprisin' a plurality of stages and'having an inlet an anV exhaust, in combination with a conduit for lshuntiug one or more of the early-stages to` prevent excessive pressure, and .a valve .responsive to pressure 'chan es"I for controlllng l e passage of motive lui throughthe conuit. 6, An `elastic-fluid turbineV comprising a plurality of sta es and having an inlet an an exhaust, in com ination with a conduit which receives the motive fluid after it has given up a certain amount of its energy tothe rotating member and. shunts it past one or more stages and discharges it into Aa succeedingstage.

7. `An elastic-fluid turbine comprising. a plurality of stages and having an inlet and an4 exhaust, in combination with aconduit which receives the motive fluid after it has given up'v 'a certain amount of its energy to the rotating member Aand shunts it past one or more ,stagesand discharges it into a succeeding tage, and nozzles orA other Huid-discharging'. devices whichreceive the motive fluid from the conduit before vit performs. further workand discharge it into 'la' stage of lower presst es the devices.discharging l on inimlsmge being wenn@ s greater pressure drop than those in the subsequent l stages, 'and a means shunting motive fluid past one or more stages under overload con ditions.

9. An elastic-fluid -turbinc comprising. a plurality of stages and havin f an inlet an( an outlet, in combination with i cviccs dischargf ing fluid against the buckets of the successive stages, the devices discharging fluid to' the initial stage being arranged to cause a greater pressure drop than those in the subsequent stages,V one or more conduits for shunting motive fluid past one or more stages, and valve-controlled means for regulating the passage of iluid through theconduits.

10. An elastic-Huid turbine comprising a plurality of stages each having relatively rotating members, means for passing motive iluid through the stages in .series for normal loads, and means for shunting one or moreof the stages for grcat'eriload conditions.

1l.f4 An elastic-fluid turbine. comprising a plurality of stages each having relatively rotating members, means for passing motive luid through the stages in series for normal loads, and valve-controlled means taking motive fluid from one of the stages after it has performed useful Work and shunting it past one or 'more stages under conditions of overload. y

1 2.'4 An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a plurality of stages each having relativelyV rotating members, means for passing motive lluid through the stages in series for normal loads, and'means lfor decreasing thenumber of active stages when the load increases` 13. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a plurality of partial flow stages, a pluralitymf total lowgsta es which are always in service, and means or decreasing the number of partial ilowstages in service as-the load increases.

14.. Anf elastic-fluid turbine comprising a.

plurality of'partialilow sta es, aplurality of total ilow stages all of Whic arenormall in service, and a means receiving motive luid afterit has 4been through4 a partial flow stage;

and performed usefulwork and-shunting it past one or more artial flow stages.

`l15. An .elasticuidrturbine comprising a prlurality of partial flow stages separated om each other bywalls, a ur'alit of an# nular oritotal flow stages w erein t e rows of moving buckets are separated from each otherfbyintermediate buckets only, fluiddischarging devices Yfor the initial stage vwhich convert a greater ercentage of pres- 'sure into velocity than t ose of the subseuent st es, and means receiving motive uid after 1t has performed work in the initial stage and shunting it past one or more of the subsequent stages' for overload conditions.

16. An elasticffluid .turbine comprising A plurality of partialflow stages and a plurait a of total flow stages and initial and stage flung -means or varying devlces 1n servlce n1 the mitral stage w1thout which receives motive dischar ing devices, in combination with the number oi dlschargmg changing thosel in service in the subsequent sta es, and valve-c ntrolled means allerding a siiunt passage for the motive {luid around one or more ol" the stages and. in multiple with the fluid-discharging devices of said stages.

17. A turbine comprisintg1r a plurality of stages, means forvpassing the motive fluid through the stages in series for certain load conditions, and means forl passing the motive 'fluid in multiple through the stages and a passage and at less than at initial pressure for greater load conditions.

18. In combination, a turbine which is divided into stages, each having movable buckets, a device located in one of the stages fluid, decreases its )ressure and discharges the same against the buckets, and one or more conduits which receive the motive luid subsequent to lits pas# sage through said device, and after shunting one or more stages discharge it intoa stage -from which 1t passes mto' another stage to perform useful Work, and an exhaust -conduit. 19. In combination, a turbine which is divided into stages, a means for causin a greater drop in pressure of the motive uid in the first than m any one ofthe subsequent stages, one or more controllable conduits which receive steam after it hasl )assed through the said. means and performe lwork and after shunting past one or more stages deliver it to a stage from which it )asses to perform work, and anexhaust con uit.

20. In combination, a turbine which is divided into stages, cach containing movable buckets, a device which produces a greater drop in fluid pressure than do the devices of the subsequent stages and also dischar es fluid to the buckets,-other fluid discharging devices for the remaining stages, a conduit which, receives fluid after its pressure has .been decreased by the admission device and after shunting it ast one or more stages discharges it back into the turbine, an automatically operating valve for controlling the conduit, and an exhaust conveying means connected to the turbine.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th da of January, 190,7.

ALTER KIESER. Witnesses: y

= FlrEDRY ZANZERT,

c LUDWIG CUBELIC.' 

